Neo-Nazi Property Sold at Auction

ByABC News
February 13, 2001, 4:21 PM

C O E U R   D' A L E N E, Idaho, Feb. 13 -- A mother and son whose lawsuitbankrupted the Aryan Nations bought the neo-Nazi group's compoundtoday and said they plan to sell it, perhaps to a human rights organization.

"We hope to get the evilness out of there and turn it around tosomething positive," Jason Keenan said.

Keenan and his mother, Victoria, were the only bidders in theU.S. Bankruptcy Court sale of the 20-acre property that served asthe clubhouse for some of the nation's most violent neo-Nazis. Theybought it for $250,000.

Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler, who watched the transferof the property he had owned for some 30 years, blamed a Jewishconspiracy for the outcome.

"You take from those who work and have, and give to those whohave never worked and did not have," he said. "I haven't lost myhonor."

There had been speculation that supporters might try to buyButler's property and return it to him for his 83rd birthday. Hehas vowed to keep preaching his white supremacist, anti-Semiticphilosophy, and is living in a house in nearby Hayden that wasbought for him by a wealthy supporter.

Only One Deposit Offered

Butler filed for bankruptcy protection in October, a month afterthe Keenans were awarded $6.3 million. They sued the group fornegligence after being shot at and assaulted by Aryan Nationssecurity guards near the compound in 1998.

Potential bidders were required to put down a $15,000 depositand have a credit line of at least $300,000. The Keenans were theonly ones to make a deposit. The Southern Poverty Law Center, aMontgomery, Ala., civil rights group that represented the Keenansin their lawsuit, lent them $95,000, the required cash portion ofthe $250,00 sale price.

The compound is a wooded site north of Hayden Lake that containsnumerous buildings, including Butler's home, a bunkhouse, a guardtower and the chapel of Butler's church. The Keenans will get thecontents of the compound and intellectual property such as thenames "Aryan Nations" and "Church of Jesus Christ Christian."